Wednesday, August 6, 2025 - The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of India have agreed to strengthen their efforts in combating the shipment of illicit drugs between the two nations, particularly the illegal flow of opioids such as tramadol and codeine-based syrup to Nigeria from South Asia.
This was part of the agreements reached during a virtual
meeting between the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed
Buba Marwa (Rtd), and the Director General of NCB, Mr. Anurag Garg, along with
senior officials of the two anti-narcotics agencies on Wednesday, August 6,
2025.
In his speech at the meeting, Marwa highlighted the threat
posed to public health and security by illicit drugs in both Nigeria and India,
while emphasising the importance of strengthening the existing partnership
between NDLEA and NCB based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by
the two agencies in 2023.
“The main reason why I requested this engagement is the
illicit importation of tramadol and codeine cough syrup into Nigeria from
India. This is a point that I raised the day we signed the MoU. Now, in the
last 18 months, that’s from January 2024 to June this year, we have seized over
one billion pills of opioids, mainly tramadol and more than 14.4 million
bottles of codeine syrup. This is why we need the support and collaboration of
the Narcotics Control Bureau of India to work with us on this,” he said.
The NDLEA boss also asked the NCB to assist NDLEA in specialised training. “The other point from me is seeking your assistance on capacity building and training. We have received training in the past from India on various topics, including drugs and investigation, analyst training, financial investigation, cyber training, and the dark web, among others. We will very much appreciate sharing from your experiences, knowledge, and your support on training for our officers,” Marwa added.
Responding, NCB boss Anurag Garg said it is essential for
the two agencies to strengthen their existing partnership, as the drug problem
cuts across international borders. He assured them of their readiness to share
knowledge, intelligence, and experience with the NDLEA in various areas of
interest.
He said, “We all know that there are transnational
syndicates involved in the illicit drug shipments into Nigeria, but we’re ready
to work with you on this. Unless we come together, we cannot end this malady
because we’re dealing with transnational drug syndicates, and they have no
respect for borders or national laws. So, the only method available at present
is to collaborate, and this is a good opportunity. This meeting is a chance for
us to take this initiative forward.
“On the issue of capacity building, we will be happy to
offer you training. We have a training centre where we will be happy to host
you for any training. I mean, as per your need, we can have a curated training
programme through which we will be very happy to share whatever we know on the
subject of clandestine labs or precursors or darknet monitoring or
investigating darknet vendors and so on.”
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